Pride and Tears
by yaoifannumba1
Summary: All he ever did was make him cry, but now that it's over, will he ever get him back? SasuXNaru YAOIWARNING!
1. Chapter 1

Pride and Tears

(Chapter 1)

**Were his tears enough? Were they enough to make him feel complete, to feel needed? It just seemed as if no matter what he did, the boy would still be left crying. One night of talking turned into flood of sadness. One look would turn into a river of helplessness and no matter what he did, he always ended up angry at himself for making the boy cry. It was his fault and his pride's. Because he couldn't say sorry…**

**Right now he was in that situation, his blonde love sat on their bed with his hands over his face after a fight. He had to admit it had been a meaningless fight, but still it wasn't his fault that he wanted to keep 'them' a secret, but then again, maybe it was. Maybe this was all his fault, but for now, right now, he had to do something, anything to make this better.**

**The raven haired boy walked over and sighed heavily, hating to see the tears run down the blonde's arms. He hated seeing him cry like this, but his pride always got in the way, always…Gently, he removed the hands from the boy's face and put the hands in his lap, hoping the boy might look at him so he'd feel even more guilt and regret, maybe enough so that he could say **_**that**_** word, but the blonde, his blonde, kept his head down and his shoulders kept shaking as the tears came faster. Even the touch of his hands made his love cry…**

"**Naruto…" the boy said softly and the crying increased as if his voice brought the boy pain, "I…"**

**The blonde pulled his hands away and wiped at his eyes, trying hard to stop the humiliation, but it kept coming. Why was it always like this? Why couldn't he say it?**

"**I-I can't do this anymore, Sasuke…" he said, looking up with his tear ridden face and the raven beside him was slightly surprised by the words. **

"**What do you mean…?"**

**This was his stupidest question yet. He had some nerve asking this and he knew exactly what Naruto meant. He had been building up this moment with every tear and the tension had been growing up to this very instant. His heart clenched at the thought, but his pride wouldn't let him show what he really felt and he saw the hurt building up way too much in his love's eyes.**

**Naruto shook his head and after having finally stopped the flow of tears, he felt them coming again.**

"**What do I mean?" he asked in disbelief, "What do you think I mean? This…us…I can't keep going on like this. I don't want to cry anymore…"**

**As if on cue, the waterworks started and Sasuke sighed as the blonde turned away from him, trying to hide his shame. The raven reached out his hand, placing it on the blonde's shoulder, but anger rose quickly in the blue depths and the boy shoved him away, getting to his feet.**

"**God, Sasuke!" Naruto cried, "You can't just touch me and think everything is going to be okay! What's the point of loving me if this is how it'll end every night for the rest of our lives?"**

**A silence ran between them for what seem like forever and Sasuke, as usual, said nothing. He always said nothing and Naruto was always the one who said the words in the relationship, but the blonde was getting tired of saying the words when it didn't seem that any of it was getting into the thick skull of the stoic Uchiha in front of him. He didn't want to complain or argue or cry. It made no difference. Sasuke just wouldn't show emotion.**

"**I'm leaving…"**

**The words hit home and Sasuke jumped to his feet as Naruto turned to leave. The boy reached out and grabbed the blonde's arm making him stop mid-step. The blonde turned back, hoping for once to see some emotion or that Sasuke might say something that would make him change his mind, but the boy said nothing, absolutely nothing. His pride just wouldn't let him.**

**Naruto shook his head in disbelief and jerked his arms away, running out of the room as if all hell might appear on earth and he'd be burned from the pain that he had felt in those few seconds that he had never felt in a lifetime. He didn't stop running and Sasuke never said a thing as he went to his window and watched the blonde run down the street. **

**The clouds gathered quickly and the rain came with it as if signaling what had just happened. Sasuke remained silent as he watched the water fall from the sky like the tears that had dripped from Naruto's chin. He wondered where the boy was now and he wanted to run out into the rain and scream to the skies and Naruto that he was sorry, but his pride wouldn't let him.**

**Outside, Naruto wouldn't allow himself to get out of the rain. He was crying again like he had every night this week and he couldn't allow himself to stop. He wanted the rain to cover it all up, but his eyes told the whole story. He wanted to get sick, so sick that he would fall over and die. He wanted Sasuke to feel guilty for making him like this. He wanted the boy to hurt because of it and feel this pain he was feeling from those simple words.**

"_**I'm leaving..."**_

**He wanted him to hurt so much, but in his heart, he wanted Sasuke to be happy and to never feel like this, to leave the pain behind. He was weak and he knew it, but now it meant nothing.**

"**Naruto?"**

**Naruto turned his sad eyes to the person now next to him that he hadn't noticed before. The boy's eyes instantly widened and Naruto, almost immediately, turned away, wiping the rain and tears from his face.**

"**Are you okay?" the boy asked, his bowl-cut seeming nonexistent because of the rain dripping from it, "What happened?"**

**Lee wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders, asking so many questions that the blonde was relieve that someone even cared, so relieved that he cried. He cried into the boy's chest, thankful when Lee didn't pull away and words of comfort came instead of question. This was what he wanted Sasuke to do.**

"**Come on," Lee said, "I'll take you to my house…We have to get out of the rain or we'll both catch a cold. Then you can tell me what happened, okay?"**

**Naruto nodded, looking at the boy thankfully and Lee led him down the street, giving a smile as the blonde laid his head on his shoulder. This was what he had wanted more than anything, the both of them…**


	2. Chapter 2

**I haven't written a very long time. I've finished a few more chapters, which I'll upload in a little. Reading the reviews I got made me really happy. So I'm going to upload more on this and other chapters. YAY! ENJOY!!!!**

**Chapter 2**

**Why did this feel so good? After everything that had happened, this warmth made him feel so much better. It made him feel as if everything would turn out okay and the arms around him were gentle and caring like that of a mother or…a lover…**

**Naruto sighed and opened his eyes, snuggling into the arms that were wrapped around him from behind. He looked around the room and knew exactly where he was. He was safe and warm, but Lee made everyone feel like that. It was just his nature.**

**Lee's arms squeezed tighter around him as he slept and Naruto couldn't help but smile. He wished Sasuke could have done this after he cried, but he never had. Only Lee could make him feel like this after something so horrible and painful. Even last night, when he had felt like he'd die from the shame and hurt, Lee had said such comforting words, beautiful words that had made the scar on his heart heal just a little. If only Sasuke had said such words… But even then, Lee couldn't get everything out of him. Such sweet words deserved an explanation, but he couldn't bring himself to give it. He told nothing about Sasuke or his feelings for the raven boy, hoping it would just all fade away as if nothing had ever happened. He was still hoping that now.**

"**Naruto?"**

**The blonde in question looked up to see Lee looking down at him. A bright smile graced the lips of the boy so quick that Naruto couldn't help but smile too. Lee just had that natural talent.**

"**Are you feeling better?" Lee asked his smile in place, but a hint of concern in his eyes, "You're not still upset are you?"**

"**I feel much better now, Lee," Naruto said softly; then he said quietly, "Thank you…for last night. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't gotten me out of the rain…I doubt that I would be inside right now…"**

**Lee nodded, glad that he had been running an errand for Gei-sensei that night and had come across his blonde friend. He couldn't stand the thought of Naruto being out all night in the freezing rain and the thought of Naruto being sick afterwards…It was enough to make him sick to his stomach.**

"**Do you want some breakfast?" the boy asked, "Maybe it'll make you feel even better."**

**Naruto smiled and gave a nod, getting to his feet and feeling cold from the lack of warmth, but Lee quickly got up and wrapped an arm around his shoulders and led him to the kitchen table. The boy even pulled out a chair for him. Sasuke had never done that. Lee was showing more concern for him than Sasuke ever had in the months that they had been going out. Lee was just…amazing.**

"**What would you like for breakfast?" Lee asked with a grin, "Pancakes, eggs and bacon, ramen, all of the above?"**

**Naruto giggled, brightening Lee's smile and his enthusiasm. He had never been this happy at breakfast and he was glad he had company, especially Naruto who always seemed to brighten his day.**

"**You can fix anything you want," the blonde said softly, "What would you like me to have?"**

**Lee thought for a moment and many thoughts came to mind, especially that one with him bathing in chocolate and Naruto by his bath in a thong. Uh…but this wasn't the time for that. **

"**How about I make all of it?" Lee said, "And we'll eat what we can? If we're lucky maybe Gei-sensei will come over and join us. He always says breakfast is the most important meal of the day and he always eats a lot, even if it does make him sick…but enough of that…"**

**Lee clapped his hands together and went to work, cooking ramen first and working his way down to pancakes. Naruto watched the boy cook and was completely entertained, mainly because Lee did cool tricks when he made the food. The blonde especially liked when the boy flipped the pancakes into the air and caught them in his pan and Naruto clapped happily, his heart feeling better than it ever had. **

**It was another matter though when it was time to eat and Naruto found he really wasn't hungry, but forced himself to eat something so as not to waste Lee's effort of cooking all of it. As it turned out, there were a lot of leftovers and Lee thought it a good idea that they take them over to Choji's, which Naruto was happy with helping him with.**

**The two walked happily down the street and Lee was glad that Naruto was feeling better and smiling like he always did. The two took the leftovers to Choji who was instantly happy as well as his family who hadn't got around to fixing breakfast quite yet and wouldn't have to, thanks to Lee. Naruto and Lee said their goodbyes and started on a walk around the village. This was usual for Lee to be out this early, but Naruto was taking in the sights of the morning, having never seen them himself. He always woke up late and Sasuke…the raven always had to wake him up, so he wouldn't be late. **

**Naruto sighed heavily, feeling as bad as he had last night and Lee quickly caught the change.**

"**Are you okay?" the boy asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"**

**Naruto shook his head, but was glad that Lee was so concerned. **

"**I'll be fine…" the blonde said softly, "Why wouldn't I be? You've been so nice to me…Thanks…"**

**Lee blushed slightly, but then covered it up with a smile.**

"**Anytime!" the boy said and Naruto gave a small smile, "Let's go wake everyone else up, so they can enjoy the morning too!"**

**Lee grabbed the blonde's hand, dragging him down the street and Naruto giggled, finding it hard to disagree to such an eager and carefree suggestion. The two ran around the village, making as much noise as they possibly could and waking up everyone that they possibly could and for some reason, everyone seemed to take it well as if they had been through this all before. Lee was their alarm clock to a happy day. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**To say the least, he felt like crap and to make it worse, a horrible yelling outside had woken him up from an already restless night sleep. How could this day get even worse? The raven sighed and slipped out of bed, getting into the shower to find that there was only cold water, which was odd because he had the best in water heating. When he had went into his basement to check later, he found a pipe had busted in the middle of the night. This was the start of a most 'wonderful' day.**

**Sasuke climbed out of the basement and went to the kitchen, peeved that he wasn't going to have hot water for a while, unless he called someone right then. He forced himself to call the repair people only to find that they couldn't do it until the next day because they had already had a lot of calls. It seemed that last nights rain had caused a lot of trouble for the village. This peeved him to no end and finally, he made himself relax enough to start breakfast, but not before realizing that today was grocery day and the cabinets were close to bare. Naruto was always the one who reminded him of this day. The blonde always had a list for them so they could go out and get the groceries together.**

**Sasuke sighed and looked on the refrigerator and saw just the list he had been thinking of. Naruto had kept it up even after all those harsh nights, which made Sasuke think that the blonde hadn't really planned on leaving last night. Maybe Naruto had planned on them going out today as they always had, getting the groceries and then coming home and putting them up together, before sitting on the couch to watch something of the blonde's turning, hand in hand.**

**Sasuke sighed, shaking his head of the thoughts. All of that was over now. Naruto was never going to come back, unless he learned to say **_**that **_**word and no matter what he tried he couldn't. He could admit, in his head, that he had practiced trying to say the word, but ended up sounding like a snake in stead, a stupid, blonde-less stuttering snake. **

**The raven fixed some toast from what was left of the bread and sighed heavily as he nibbled on the crust. He was missing him already…**

**_**

**He hated the store and Naruto had been the only reason he had gone. He hated the long lines that you had to go through to be able to buy your stuff and he hated each beep as the food was rung up. He hated how much variety there was to choose from. Why didn't they just have one kind, instead of 20 different kinds, of mustard? He hated it all and no matter what people thought about him, there was one thing that all of them were wrong to accuse him of. Uchiha Sasuke was not patient, not in anyway imaginable. This was why he had gotten the luck of getting in the slowest line ever and glowering at the counter girl. This brought up another reason he hated stores. Why were there never any lines open and why did they need so many if they were only going to use two? In these moments in the store, Sasuke came to the conclusion that the place was a horrible, disorganized mess and maybe he ought to pay someone to go for him next time. **

**The Uchiha walked out of the store and headed home after what seemed like hours of waiting in the grocery line and realizing that he had only been waiting 15 minutes. Searching for the things themselves had taken way longer than checking them out. The raven headed home and heard the same noise he had heard this morning that had forcefully woke him up. Instantly, he went to investigate and just as instantly, he regretted his decision as he saw Naruto and Lee making all the noise.**

**Immediately, the raven hid behind the first thing he saw, a tree, and peered from behind it at the two, one of which seemed happier than the boy had seen him in a long time. **

"**Shouldn't we stop?" Naruto said as he smiled softly at the boy in front of him, "Everyone must be awake by now. I bet they're pretty mad at us…"**

"**I guess…" Lee said thoughtfully, "I saw lots of people getting up, though, so our mission is complete!"**

**Naruto giggled at the grin now on the boy's face. He couldn't stop himself from laughing now, no matter what he tried.**

**Sasuke sighed heavily, thinking that maybe he hadn't been the right guy for Naruto. He wanted anything for him to be happy, but because of his pride, he couldn't do it and it always ended with the shedding of tears. Maybe Naruto needed someone like Lee to brighten his spirits, not him who would only darken it. The raven turned and started on a different path. He didn't want to mess up Naruto's day. He'd be okay at home, like he always had been; alone.**

**Lee looked around and unfortunately, for both Naruto and Sasuke, the boy caught sight of the raven, trying very hard to get away before being notice, and yelled out his name, it seemed, to the heavens. Instantly, Sasuke froze on the spot and Naruto froze too, turning to look at the boy's turned back and, now, stiff composure. **

"**Let's say hi," Lee said happily, "I wonder if we woke him up this morning too."**

**Naruto bit his lip. If they had, he was sure Sasuke was having a bad day already besides what had happened last night.**

"**Wait!" he said quickly, grabbing Lee's arm before he could get away and the boy instantly noticed something was wrong.**

"**What?" Lee asked, "Is something wrong?"**

**Naruto bit his lip, searching for something to say and Sasuke listened for only a second before continuing on his way. The blonde instantly turned to him and his grip on Lee's arm slackened as he watched the receding back. He sighed and turned away, his arms wrapping around himself as if in protection. **

**Lee looked from Naruto to Sasuke and wondered if something had happened. Maybe something that had caused the blonde to be out in the rain last night.**

"**Naruto…?"**

**The blonde really didn't want to look up now. Just to see Sasuke made his heart feel as if it were being stabbed, making a bigger and deeper scar that he thought could never be fixed, but even so, he lifted his gaze, hoping the tears weren't coming.**

**Lee sighed at the sad face and took the boy by the hand.**

"**Let's go for a walk…" **

**Naruto nodded and looked at the ground once more as he was led away and for a second, he glanced back to see Sasuke glancing as well at him. Then they turned away, both of them feeling as miserable as they had when the nights of crying had started.**


End file.
